Palestinian Preventive Security, a key force in a struggle to stop militant violence, has a new leader, Rashid Abu Shbak, whose appointment reflects an effort by President Mahmoud Abbas to replace the cronies of his legendary predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
Abbas appointed Abu Shbak, 50, on Tuesday as commander of the elite force, another step toward streamlining and revamping the security branches. Before, Abu Shbak headed the Gaza section, separate from the West Bank force.
On Saturday, the Palestinian leader completed a key element of reform by consolidating the nine branches of his security service into three. He also signed off on the forced retirement of two leading security figures, who are to be among 1,150 eased out under a retirement plan announced earlier this month.
Trying to ease the blow to their prestige, Abbas on Tuesday offered 10 of the senior officers an award called the "Al Quds Medal," but several of them refused to accept it as a gesture of complaint against their dismissal.
The Israeli military is warning that Palestinian militants in the West Bank are planning a new round of violence in September or October, after Israel completes its withdrawal from Gaza, according to security officials.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the material, said there has been a sudden significant increase in arms smuggling from Egypt, and the arms are ending up in the West Bank.
On Tuesday the military said it is stepping up patrols along the 200km desert border. The officials said weapons seized in recent days include dozens of rifles and a shipment of high quality rocket-propelled grenades.
The officials said another round of violence is inevitable unless Abbas and his security forces take measures to stop the militants.
Arafat set up at least nine competing and overlapping security services and kept them all under his command, as a way of maintaining his one-man rule, playing competing strongmen off against each other.
Israel charged that many of the services were directly involved in Palestinian violence that erupted in 2000. Also, the Israelis banned all Palestinians from carrying weapons -- including police.
The combination of the internal conflicts and Israeli attacks reduced the Palestinian Authority's forces to near total ineffectiveness -- though Israel and the US continued to demand a crackdown on militant groups. In the absence of a central authority, armed gangs of militants took control of Palestinian streets and refugee camps.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
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